Dog Breath
by Cake-ya-san
Summary: She's a mutt, a stray, an Inuzuka without Clan marks and more than likely to bite the hand that feeds her...she'd make the best attack dog. OC Slight AU
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_

 **Dog Breath**

 _Prologue: Mutt_

"It's an Inuzuka alright, look at that hair and the teeth on it."

"But there's not clan markings."

"A mutt then?"

"Maybe, do you think Orochimaru-sama will still want it?"

"Just put it down, he'll be disappointed in us if we bring back something with no viability."

"I don't know, what if she's important?"

"We don't have time for this, those Konoha-ninja will catch us if we delay too much."

"Let's flip a coin."

"Don't be stupid we ha-YEOW it BIT ME!"

A slap cracked through the silent street and a low whimpering sounded before a deep growl took its place. The two darkly dressed ninja looked over into the alleyway and stepped back slowly as two red eyes glowed in the dark. It was followed by three more glowing pairs of eyes and suddenly the two ninja found themselves surrounded by a pack of large mangy looking dogs. They backed up a step, keeping hold of the struggling child in their arms and weapons out ready to attack and defend.

What they hadn't counted on was for the entire dog pack and the child in their arms throwing back their heads and howling at the moon. Alarms went off, shouting was heard and in the process of panicking and trying to escape the two ninjas were captured in under five seconds by the child they had been trying to kidnap. They looked up at the thin, rangy child that they had held captive only moments before and shuddered at the bloodied grin the child gave them. It was leaning against a scarred old dog that was twice its size and had its arms crossed over a thin chest.

"Good job doggy." The child turned to the voice and smiled happily as Tsume-sama patted her head as well as the dog she leant against. "Are there others to fetch?" the leader of the Inuzuka Clan asked the girl.

"No" the girl said with a rough voice, deeper than most children her age. "Don't smell any others, and neither does the pack."

"Alright then, back to the den then."

The girl slung herself onto the back of the grizzled old dog and the rest of the pack followed after them, they disappeared into the night as quietly as they had snuck upon the hapless and incompetent enemy-nin.

"So…" Tsume-sama said and her sharp fangs glinted in the night and the feral woman took great satisfaction in the whimpers the two ninja's gave, "can you tell me about what you are doing in Konoha?"

~*~*~*~*~DBDBDBDB~*~*~*~*~*~

The girl made it back to the Inuzuka Clan compound, led the ninken pack back into the sleeping pens, she and four of the partnerless ninken had been on den patrol tonight when they had caught a whiff of the infiltrators and acted. The girl then turned towards the young clan heir that waited for her outside of the pens with a first aid box in her hands.

"Come here then." The Clan heir Hana said and she waited for the older girl to slink forwards and take a seat in front of her. "Did you catch them?" Hana was only five years old, her thick tufty hair was pulled back in a messy tail and she had been woken up by the alarms and the howling of the den patrol.

The girl grunted and tried to turn her head away from Hana's probing fingers as she inspected the cut on her lip from where the enemy ninja had slapped her. It wasn't a deep cut and it would heal quickly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Hana grinned and quickly took care of the girls split lip before slapping her happily on the arm, "all done, you can get some sleep now."

Bowing to the Clan heir the older girl stood gracefully and moved back towards the ninken's sleep pens only to be stopped with a hand on her shoulder.

"You can sleep in the house Eri-chan."

Dark brown matted hair fell into golden eyes and the girl shook her head. She pulled away from the Clan heir and went to settle with the dogs.

Hana sighed as she watched the dirty, silent girl. It was still almost like pulling teeth to get the girl to speak to her and Hana wanted someone desperately to speak to other than her Three Haimaru Brothers, even if her ninken were the greatest friends and partners anyone could ask for.

Hana waited until she was sure the injured girl was settled before she left for the night, tucking the first aid box under her arm and set off to get more sleep.

Once Eri was sure Hana was gone the girl sighed and allowed herself to relax. It had been three years since she had been found wandering outside of Konoha with two ninken's and no understanding of human speech. Tsume-sama had taken her in, given her a name and had tried to help her become a little more human and less dog.

Tsume-sama had had her DNA checked to make sure she was Inuzuka Clan blood, but no one really knew who she was or where she had come from. Her assimilation into normal society had taken a long time and she still felt better sleeping in the same pen with Sen and Kaja than anywhere else. The two old war dogs were pretty much her only family and she saw them as more like her mother and father than anything or anyone else. At seven years old she would be starting the academy soon, she would be there a full two years before the Clan heir and she would make it her job to protect her expanding family.

She had grown to love Tsume-sama and her daughter, as well as the partnerless Ninken who could not bond with another ninja as much as they had with their first partner. It had become her job within the Clan to help calm and reintegrate the Ninken into the Clan and help them to overcome the loss of the ninja partner.

Snuggling down into the warm heat of Sen She drifted off to sleep, content that her and the sentry pack had sniffed out the infiltrators and had helped to capture them, keeping the den safe once more.

~*~*~*~*~DBDBDBDBD~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN/ first try at a Naruto fic….we'll see how it goes, prob won't follow much of the storyline – this is a bit of an experiment.


	2. Chapter 1 School Sleep

**Dog Breath**

 _Chapter One: School = Sleep_

Eri stood beside Tsume-sama and growled low under her breath. She had been forbidden to bring Sen and Kaja with her to the Academy and this would be the first time in her life that she would be away from her ninken family. She didn't understand why she needed to go to the Academy, she already did guard work for her new family and she had learnt to fight from Sen and Kaja. She already had a job that she enjoyed with helping the partnerless ninken to rehabilitate to fighting with new partners. However the clans Alpha had said it was a necessary part of her living with the clan, and so Eri would do what she needed to, for her new family.

"Behave today, listen to your teachers." Tsume-sama looked down at the young girl with a frown. She wasn't sure the child would be able to be civil with other children, the girl was a mutt and acted more like a dog than a human. She could get along with Hana, but she shied away from others. Eri bowed her head and shifted away from Tsume-sama when the older woman tried to hit her upside the head for her growling. "None of that!" Tsume-sama warned and Eri stopped growling. Eri took another look at the young children she would be with and sighed unhappily, today would not be a fun day.

Tsume-sama pushed her forward and Eri left her Clans leader and the only other person she knew in the crowd and followed the other children into the Academy building and towards the classroom she had been assigned.

Many of the children already knew each other and were sitting in their seats laughing, bright eyed and happy. Their high pitched voices hurt her ears and she snarled when one of the children came too close to her, the boy smelt like fire and she hated fire.

Looking around she found a seat right at the back by the window, the boy next to it had a thick coat on with a high collar, black glasses covering his eyes and a very pale face. When Eri sat down next to him she caught the scent of leaves, wind and life. It was a very pleasant smell. The other children quickly found their seats and the last one on their table was a thin boy with strange white hair that defied gravity and a mask, he smelt like dog and she grinned toothily. Her tablemates were good choices and she sat back comfortably in her seat to wait for their teacher.

Their teacher a chunin who had a scar across his nose and looked like a strong breeze would blow him away stood in front of them and introduced himself as Ken. Their first class ended up being as boring as she had thought it would be. They were to introduce themselves to each other, say their names, clans, interests and why they wanted to be a ninja. Eri ignored them all and looked out the window with longing. She was still learning to read and write and sometimes words were hard for her to form. She wanted to be home with Sen and Kaja, to play with the new pups and help Osokure who had returned from the war front without his partner and was still feral and angry.

Looking around the room she growled low in her throat at the high pitched noises the other children were making as they picked out training kunai and holsters. There was a test at the end of the day and Eri had looked at the words and turned the paper face down, put her head on it and went to sleep.

She found out later that the boy who smelled of life as called Aburame Muta, she called him Bug/ The white haired dog was called Hatake Kakashi and he was only five…and would be moving to a different class because he had tested high. She had stared at him for a moment when he had started to pack up his belongings.

"See you white dog." She said and the boy grunted, took a sniff in her direction and shrugged.

"Later mutt."

She put her head back onto the table and went to sleep, feeling safe next to the bug.

DBDBDBDB

Her first year at the Academy turned out to be the beginning of a very long and boring process of learning to read and write. She was good at taijutsu and weapons, but she preferred her hands. She met another boy who liked fighting and being green and loud. She didn't like his loud voice, but he was fun to wrestle with like the puppies. She called him Green.

Her Academy life after that was filled with lessons, writing, fighting with Green and silent lunches with the bug. She didn't get any better at talking to others, they were too irritating and loud. Bug was quiet, didn't mind that she would forget his name most of the time and he got used to Sen and Kaja when they were allowed to come with her to school. They agreed that the boy had a nice scent and they sometimes all three would lay in the sun under a tree with Bug and enjoy the quiet time together. Green would sometimes join them, but he had too much energy and would soon be off running around the fields and doing push ups.

DBDBDBDBDB

The next time she saw White Dog was when he was trailing after a bright blonde haired man who smiled a lot. They were both talking to Tsume-sama while Eri groomed Osokure, he had calmed down much since he had first been brought back.

"Eri." Tsume-Sama called her over and Eri patted the big ninken on the head before moving over to Tsume-sama's side.

"White Dog," Eri greeted.

"Mutt," Kakashi responded in kind, both children dodged the hands coming to hit them over the head from their respective carers.

"Namikaze and his brat need you to go with them. There's a wounded Ninken that wont leave his dead partner nor let anyone get close enough to help. Grab your things."

And so Eri spent the day in the company of White Dog, sunshine man and Sen who was allowed to accompany her. They travelled outside of Konoha and through the forest, Eri rode Sen and ignored the sunshine man's attempts to talk to her.

"Not very talkative are you."

"No." she said.

"How did you and Kakashi-kun become friends?"

"We're not friends." Eri and Kakashi said at the same time.

Minato laughed and raised his eyebrows at his students, "Is that so?"

"We met at the Academy." Eri said as she patted Sen's head and looked around at the large trees around them.

"What year are you in Eri-chan?"

Eri shrugged, she wasn't sure how long she had been at the academy, it was just one long nap time to her.

"We started at the same time." Kakashi said.

"Ah…so how old are you Eri-chan? You look a little bit older than Kakashi-kun."

Eri shrugged again, she wasn't sure how old she was, Sen and Kaja also weren't sure how old she was either.

"Eri-chan?" Minato asked again, trying to get a good look at her face.

"I don't know." She said and then pointed in the direction they were headed. "I smell blood, we must be close. You never said who it was."

"Ah, it's Junsuke Inuzuka." Minato said. Eri turned to him and narrowed her golden eyes.

"The ninken's name?"

Scratching his head Minato felt a flush creep across his face as he realised he didn't remember the Ninkens name. Turning to Kakashi the young white haired ninja rolled his eyes.

"Shirodan."

Eri nodded her head and patted Sen again. She growled to Sen letting her mother figure know she would approach first, the war dog barked back at her and Eri turned her golden eyes onto the narrowed eyes of the White Dog. She wasn't sure if he could understand dogs well or if he just smelt like dog. She would have to learn more about it later.

They came upon the scene, two Anbu stood in the shadows and in the centre of a clearing lay the body of Junsuke and standing guard over him was his injured Ninken Shirodan.

Eri felt her heart fall and tears gather in her eyes. She slipped from Sens back and crouched down onto all fours. She pulled her jacket, gloves and shoes off, then her shirt and pants so that she crouched in her underwear. She ignored the spluttering sound of the White Dog, Shirodan needed to see that she was not a threat and the more her own scent came through the better.

She approached slowly making small whimpering sounds, she kept her head bowed and eyes off to the side and while the growling of the large ninken continued, the pitch and tone did not change. She waited close by with arm and fist outstretched and ignored the growls and hot breath of an angry, hurting ninken and waited for him to sniff her, to wait until it was safer to come close.

She crouched that way for hours, sweat ran down her face and she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing and did not move at all. Finally she felt the sniff on her fist, a gentle lick and the growls stopped. Looking up into dark sad eyes she moved forward carefully and placed a hand over the ninken's head and patted his mattered fur. She ignored the smell of the dead Inuzuka man she was half leaning over and pulled the ninken's large head towards her and hugged him. She stayed that way for another hour, calming the war dog and offering comfort in her scent and touch.

"You did well Shirodan, you kept guard." She praised the ninken. The war dog growled low in his throat.

"Not enough to keep him alive." He said back to her with such sorrow she cried into his neck.

"It was enough because I see how much you loved him and he loved you."

It was obvious to Eri that Junsuke had saved his ninken and killed the ninja who had attacked them to save his Ninken. Most of the ninja of the Inuzuka clan had the same conviction as their partners, theirs was a clan of loyalty, family and fierce love.

"Let us bring him back to the clan. Sen will carry him on her back."

Sen came over and together with Shirodan they retrieved Junsuke and started back to Konoha without a look or word at Minato or Kakashi.

That night the partnerless Ninken and Shirodan howled to the moon their sorrow and Eri joined her voice to theirs.

DBDBDBDBDB

The day Green's father died Eri and Muta found him under their tree, silent still and sad. They sat with him and watched the clouds go by, they didn't leave him until the stars had shone in the sky and Kaja came to find where she was. Muta and Eri took Green home and stayed with him that night with Kaja standing guard over the house.

Maito Gai needed his friends for months afterwards, he would hold their hands and follow them everywhere and not laugh or fight or train. Eri saw him as another partnerless dog and so would bundle him up with a still sad Osokure and Shirodan. The three would lay together and offer warmth and comfort.

Bug would sometimes come and take Gai from Eri when she was busy and ask for help in training. Slowly Green started to talk, and move about on his own. The day he woke up from the grey fog of despair was a strange day for all.

Eri had been leading Shirodan and Osokure around the streets of Konoha and talking to them both about getting back into patrols to keep the citizens safe. Gai was with her, holding her hand and staring blankly around at the streets when White Dog flew right into Eri and knocked her down.

A red haired loud mouthed teen stood at the end of the street and was laughing and hanging off of Minato, the sunshine man. Gai stood and stared down at his hand where Eri had let go as she went tumbling down. Shirodan and Osokure had both been startled by the sudden attack and were growling and getting ready to attack.

"Get off." Eri said and pushed up at Kakashi with an angry scowl on her face.

Kakashi equally angry glared down and her and pushed her back down to the ground while getting up.

Gai watched all of this with a steadily growing spark of something seeping into his heart and spreading through his numb body. He moved before his mind even knew what he was doing. Kakashi went flying back towards the red haired laughing teen girl and skidded down the street with dust flying. Gai struck a pose, one arm pointed to Kakashi and the other on his hip.

"That was most unyouthful. You should not push Eri-chan and scare ninken like that!"

"I didn't push her and it was not my fault." Kakashi stood back up, equally as angry and pointing right back at Gai.

The two young ninja ended up in a fight which Kakashi felt like he could have won if Minato hadn't interfered with the red haired girl grabbing at Gai to hold him back.

"This isn't over! I will keep fighting you until I win!" Gai vowed. He slipped out from the red haired girls arms and grabbed Eri's hand and pulled her away, Osokure and Shirodan following behind them and still twitching and growling.

"Green is back." Eri said with a smile. Gai smiled back, his smile glinting in the light.

DBDBDBDBDBDB

Green and White Dog had many fights during the years and Gai called the boy his Eternal Rival. Gai moved through the classes quickly and graduated before Muta and Eri. He hugged both Muta and Eri long and hard and had tears in his eyes as he passionately cried out what a great ninja he would be and that he would see them both on their graduation day. Eri had reminded him that they would see him around the village and Gai had cried and told Eri she was smart. Eri had looked over at Muta who was making suspicious noises and pulling the collar of his jacket up higher.

DBDBDBDBDBDB

During taijutsu training one day they had been pitted against another class of students of the same year level. She had been sitting lazily with the other students and watching Bug fight with a boy who had milky white eyes and fought strangley. It was only tiajutsu and Bug was fairly good at it. It was almost just like any other day in class when Muta cried out in pain and the boy he was fighting with had a hand that glowed and a terrible smile on his face.

"Told you I'd squish you like the bug you are." The boy had said.

Eri moved.

The white eyed boy was on the ground, her teeth in his neck and warm blood flowed into her mouth. There was shouting and screaming and Eri growled low in her throat.

She was hit on the head hard and pulled off of the boy quickly and Eri was surprised to see it was their slight chunin teacher Ken who held her up by the scruff of her shirt. Blood dripped down her chin and she was glad to see that the boy she had attacked would probably never speak again, she had bit him hard enough to almost crush his neck.

Muta was looking at her through his glasses and she stared back at him. She ignored her teacher who was asking her questions and questions to the ninja that were surrounding the white eyed boy.

"Why?" Muta asked.

"You're my bug." Eri said, "He's not allowed to squish you."

"He wouldn't of."

Eri shrugged, "Doesn't matter, he won't now."

She got in a lot of trouble, the Hyuuga Clan were not impressed and Tsuma-sama while angry at her in public had in private told her she had done a good thing. Her punishment was to clean then clan pens, but as this was something she already did, Eri didn't think anything of it.

DBDBDBDBDBDB

Eri had been sleeping in class again when their teacher Ken told them it was time for their final exams as Academy students to become Genin. She had sat up startled and looked over to Bug. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Four years." Muta said with a slight grin, his table partner was such a sleepy dog, not like the other Inuzuka clan members he had met and he had always enjoyed spending his days with her.

He had asked her once why she was always so sleepy.

" _I patrol at night with Sen and Kaja and the other Ninken, I finish before class."_

" _Aren't you tired?" Muta had questioned._

" _That is what sleep is for." Eri had replied._

" _But you are supposed to pay attention in class."_

" _Why?"_

" _To learn to be a ninja."_

" _Oh…well, ok." Eri had gone straight back to sleep and Muta had watched her in bewilderment for a moment. Their teacher Ken had called for attention and Muta went back to paying attention to the lesson, he made sure to make his notes neat for Eri to read over later. He was never sure if she did read them._

Muta stood outside with his Konoha headband in one hand and his Kikaichu humming nervously in his chest, what if his friend did not pass? She was the only person in his class that he even remotely cared about and they had been friends for the last four years. He breathed a sigh of relief when she came loping out of the Academy with her own Hitait around her neck and a sleepy yawn.

They were both jumped on by a very happy and green Maito Gai.

DBDBDBDBDBDBDB

Muta, Eri and the Hyuuga whose throat she had damaged were all on the same team, their teacher Choza Akimichi.

DBDBDBDBDBDB

TBC


	3. Chapter 2 How to become a team

**Dog Breath**

 _Chapter Two: 'How to Become a Team' an account written by Chouza Akimichi_

Team Chouza was a bit of a mystery to most people. Sure an Inuzuka, Aburame and Hyuuga would be a great sensor and scout team, however being taught by a third of the ino-shika-cho and the heavy hitter part of that team seemed to be a bit of a hit and miss where most were concerned.

Chouza was excited to see what he could teach his kids, and who said any part of ino-shika-cho did anything by themselves?

 **Day 1** – _Team Building - getting to know you_

"I'll kill you!"

"Ah, so I didn't cut your vocal cords…I will bite harder next time."

"There won't be a next time!"

"What does that mean?" Muta asked quietly and he stepped in front of his sleepy puppy who was either unconcerned about the aggressive Hyuuga or wasn't taking the boys anger seriously.

"It means that I will stop her heart and she will die bef…" the Hyuuga toppled over face first unconscious and Muta walked calmly over to the boy to pick up his Kikkai.

"Well that's one way to finish an argument." Chouza observed as he checked over the Hyuuga boy to make sure he was still breathing.

"Why were you not surprised?" Muta asked his friend who was yawning, her sharp canine teeth glinting in the sunlight.

"Smelt you Bug. You moved when he spoke and we are friends. I have seen you practice with your family." Eri turned to their teacher expectantly. "We'll see you tomorrow then? I'm going off to sleep. Let's go Bug, Green said he was off today as well."

Chouza sighed as two of his gennins walked away and left him with their unconscious team mate. Maybe tomorrow would go better.

 **Day 2** _\- Team Building - getting to know you (take 2)_

It was a bad day for Shirodan and so he was sitting next to Eri, leaning the bulk of his weight on her by siting on her feet. She had almost fallen once and only Muta's hand on her shoulder had prevented that. The two of them were waiting for their jonin sensei and their third team mate.

"What name have you come up with for our Hyuuga team mate?"

"Do you know his name?"

"I do, but it's not like you will remember it." Muta laughed softly.

"I remember names." Eri protested, she patted Shirodan's head affectionately. "There's Sen, Kaja, Osokure, Shirodan, Hana-chan and Tsume-sama and their ninken k-"

"-yes, but what about people other than your clan and the ninken? Do you remember my name?"

"Muta." Eri said with a grin at her bug, she just thought _her_ name for her friends were better.

"Green? White Dog? Sunshine Man?"

"Gai, Kakashi and Namikaze-san."

"So what name have you thought of for our teammate?"

"What is his real name?"

"Hyuuga Nagari."

"Milk."

Chouza and the third gennin of their team came across a hysterically laughing Aburame, a blank faced Inuzuka and a very big, scarred Ninken.

Their introductions went better this time. Nagari's goal was to kill Eri, Muta's goal was to prevent that from happening and Eri's goal was to help ninken. A very nice team if Chouza did say so himself.

 **Day 5** – _A team that fights together stays together_

Chouza wasn't sure how to balance out his team. Muta and Eri fought well together and their friendship was solid and strong. It was unfortunate that they had a bad experience as Academy students with their third member. Team sparing sessions started out as a free for all and ended up with the Hyuuga face down and unconscious curtesy of a kikkai bug if the boy hit Eri with his gentle fist anywhere important. Or the Hyuuga would end up on the ground and stuck under the weight of a ninken if it was the other way around.

"What do you think Shika?"

The shadow user was watching Eri latch her teeth onto the Hyuuga's arm and Muta punch the boy in his face. The Hyuuga howled as he fell down, the Inuzuka still biting his arm.

"They need a mutual enemy to fight, something that will bring them all together. They may need a high stress situation to get past this."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"I'll work something out for you Chouza."

"Thanks Shika."

"Don't thank me yet, you might want to stop that before the Hyuuga loses an arm."

Chouza cursed as he spun around to find Muta watching silently as Eri shook her head side to side with Nagari's arm still in her mouth.

"Eri, stop!"

 **Day 10 –** _D mission 'it is not a sign of weakness to ask for help'_

Walking the ninken dogs was easy for Eri, however her two teammates struggled with the strength of the war dogs. Muta was only walking one as he had given his second lead to Eri once he realised he would need two hands to keep the war dogs on the path and not sniffing along the walls and homes they passed.

Nagari however was cursing, his hair was messy and he had already tripped more times than Chouza could count.

"Why don't you ask for help?" Chouza suggested.

"Never."

 **Day 14 –** _D Mission 'Laughing with others can improve the feelings of friendship'_

Nagari Hyuuga was having the time of his life as he watched the Inuzuka of their team sit quietly in the large tea house. Their mission had been to assist with the tea ceremonies. The tea houses usual hostesses were all sick. The Aburame and Hyuuga clans taught all their clan members the tea ceremony and so the two teammates sat on opposite sides of the room with different patrons and performed artfully. Inuzuka Eri was wearing a cloth kimono and sitting in seiza next to Muta with a frown on her face as she watched the elegant movements of her teammate. Finishing with his patrons Nagari stood and made his way over to Muta and Eri with a smirk on his face.

He waited until they were finished with their own patrons before he said anything.

"Will you be doing anything today dog?"

Shifting on her knees she ignored the Hyuuga and collected the tea bowls and utensils.

"Shall I clean your tea area as well Milk?"

She stood gracefully in her kimono with the tray held in her hands and then made her way calmly over to Nagari's tea serving area and cleaned up after him. The two male teammates watched this silently.

"Don't push her today Nagari, she had patrol last night and they caught someone trying to steal the new ninken pups." Muta said with a frown. Eri had been more of a sleepy puppy today than usual and she was a little sad and subdued which Muta did not like.

Nagari glared at the Aburame for ruining his fun and he ignored his teammates for the rest of their mission. As they were leaving a pretty blue butterfly flew down and landed in Muta's hair. Nagari was startled to hear a happy laugh escape Eri and the girl gently offered her finger to the butterfly. He was even more startled when she turned to him with bright golden eyes.

"Isn't it pretty? It's been following Muta for days, I think it has a crush on him."

Nagari laughed at the huff from Muta and then he scowled at the both of them before storming off.

"I think he is jealous that the butterfly likes you more than him." Eri explained to Muta seriously, she was a little concerned when he fell over laughing. Aburame were quiet people, she was starting to suspect that Muta might not be a real Aburame.

 **Day 30 – White Dog and Sunshine Man**

White Dog had teammates with him and Sunshine Man. One was loud and wore strange goggles and the other was quiet and had purple markings on her cheeks.

"When did you get a team?" she asked a little confused as to why White Dogs team were on her own team's training grounds.

"Why do you have two ninken with you today?" he asked back.

Beside Eri sat two pups, they had both been injured in the attempt to steal them and they were also wary of humans. Eri was slowly rehabilitating them to be of use to the Clan, Tsume-sama was not sure if they would be able to bond with their intended ninja counterpart.

She had them with her as she was hoping Muta's forest smell would help calm them as it had her on her first day at the Academy. The two pups had been sniffing tentatively at Muta's hands when they had been interrupted, the two pups had left Muta to lean back against her.

"I asked you first," She said.

"Recently, now my question?"

"Because I do."

Muta huffed a laugh and hid his smile in the high collar of his coat.

"Ah Akimichi-san, we are here for the briefing of our joint mission," Minato said.

Muta and Nagari turned to face their teacher in surprise.

"Yes, we are to accompany the trading caravan from Konoha to Midorishi. There have been bandit attacks along this road that have been increasing in numbers. They suspect that there is a large bandit encampment hidden along this trail. My team will try to find them and Minato's team will provide the protection. The mission will take eight days, five days to travel there and three to get back. This is a C grade mission. Go and pack your bags and we will see you at the gate tomorrow morning just as the sun comes up. Eri, no ninken."

Eri stared at her jounin sensei for a moment before bowing, picking up the two ninken pups with her and leaving the training ground. She ignored her team mates and Kakashi's team. It would be the first time she would be leaving Konoha after arriving to live with Tsume-sama and this time there would be no Sen and Kaja with her.

 **Day 32 – Dog talk**

The first day of their mission with White Dogs team went smoothly. The caravan of merchants were loud but interesting and they were well used to ninja guards. Muta, Eri and Nagari patrolled the edges of the caravan, trying to get a feel for where the bandit encampment could be and also trying to keep away from White Dog, his loud Orange teammate and the healer.

Eri sniffed at White Dog and grinned. "Your team is strange, the girl smells of like towards you and the boy smells of jealousy. You smell like boredom."

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the Inuzuka girl and shrugged.

"Is that why you wear your muzzle? To keep the scents away? Do you not like the girl back? You should tell her then, she is distracted by you."

"Shut up mutt." He turned away from her and glared at Rin who had been staring at them. He then grinned slyly at Eri, "you should tell your Aburame to mask his scent."

"Why? I like his scent….he smells like home." Eri turned away from Kakashi and pointed off to her left. "I have located the bandits, Bug can you confirm?"

Kakashi scowled as he was ignored by the gennin team as they pulled away from the caravan to converse with their team leader. Obito nudged his arm obnoxiously and Kakashi pulled his body away from his team mate.

"Your little girlfriend leave you? Make you sad? Do you want to cry about it? Do you oof." Kakashi grinned as he stepped over his downed team mate and made a bee line to the front of the caravan.

 **Day 33 – In which near death experience builds character**

It took them another day to reach the bandit camp and when they did Chouza thought maybe he shouldn't do this with a fresh gennin team. There were thirty bandits laughing, drinking and eating around camp fires. He looked down at his teams serious faces and wondered what they would do.

Muta leaned against the tree and let some kikachu play on his hands as he watched them. Eri crouched down by her teammates feet and leant her head against her arm to wait. Nagari had his byakugan activated and was looking over the scene.

"Thirty bandits, three captives in the tent and no ninja present." Nagari reported back to his sensei.

"One ninja, low level and in the trees on the south side." Eri put in. Naragi snarled and turned to her with an angry frown.

"There is no ninja there."

"Yes, there is. That is your Byakugan blind spot. Look again."

"I have no blind spot."

"Yes you-"

"-no, I don't!"

Eri frowned at her team mate. She might not like him, but if they were to be fighting together they needed to be honest about weaknesses so that others would be able to cover those in a fight. When she went on patrols with the Ninken at the compound they knew what she could and couldn't do. She always had either Sen or Kaja with her to be her paws or teeth or muscle since she was still small and not as strong or quick as they were.

"What strategy will you use?" Chouza asked the team, watching carefully for any reason he should pull them away.

"Will you be with us?" Muta asked.

"Yes."

"Then I will engage the bandits with my Kikachu for distraction, Sensei if you take out the ninja. Eri to retrieve the captured civilians and Nagari to back Eri up."

"Agreed." Nagari said.

"Mm." Eri patted Muta's leg in agreement and stood up, ready to go.

They moved as one rushing the enemy and engaging quickly. Eri slipped between bandits teeth gnashing and kunai slashing, blood arching.

She made it to the tent where the civilians were being held, two young girls and a young boy. She ignored their tears and shuffles to get away from her. She needed to get them to safety and then back into the fight to protect her bugs back.

She ignored Nagari's snarl to hurry up and slashed through the ropes binding the children and grabbed them roughly.

"Follow me and we will get you home, do you understand?" she used the gravel growl of command that Sen and Kaja had taught her to use on unruly pups to get them to focus and listen. She waited until she had all three children nod and then they were off, back into the maelstrom of the fight, she twisted and turned around the children with Nagari to move the children beyond the fighting. She caught a glimpse of Bug, his kakkai a swirl of black death and his kunai raining blood around him.

She pulled to children after her and into the hollow of a tree and began to trap the area around them with strict instructions of the children to stay hidden and silent.

"stay." She commanded fiercely and the little pups nodded their heads and hunkered down.

She turned to look at Milk and he glared at her.

"let's go." He said and then he shushined down to the fight, Eri on his heels. Eri spun high kicked a bandit in the neck before following up with a kunai into the heart when she caught the scent of another ninja. She shifted and looked around to assess the group. Muta continued to fight the larger portion of bandits, bodies on the group around him. Chouza sensei was still fighting the ninja, they were using chakra strings and traps to slow down their sensei.

Eri knew that if it hadn't been for her team, their sensei would not have to be so careful of the surrounding fighters. She noticed the flicker and scent of the ninja and turned in the direction it was coming for. It was heading for Nagari and Nagari was turned away from the incoming ninja, it was in his blind spot. They had miscalculated the numbers and she twisted, ducked and lunged to push an unaware Nagari out of the path of the ninja's kodachi she was unprepared for the sword to push through her shoulder, the burn and shock of pain and her blood flooded her senses. She staggered as the sword was pulled from her body and she dropped her kunai from numb fingers. She lifted her unarmed other hand to block the kodachi cutting her face and grabbed onto the blade as it sliced her palm. Snarling Eri kicked the kunoichi in the knee with chakra infused strength trying to get the ninja away from her so she could re-group. Fighting on her own without a nin-ken was disorientating and as the kunoichi came at her again she realised that fighting by yourself was a bad idea. She ducked, but too slow and a glancing punch to her temple had the genning Inuzuka falling before she knew what was happening.

Nagari turned with a snarl at his teammate ready to start screaming at the stupid dog for pushing him into an incoming bandit. He paused as he watched her fall, for a moment uncomprehending of the ninja standing over her and the blood spilling from his teammate. He cried out and stepped over her, kunai raised to block the descending kodachi and his Byakugan eyes staring into the eyes of the female enemy ninja in anger. He pushed up with incredible strength and snapped out a hand towards the enemy's heart to stop it with gentle fist but the kunoichi leapt backwards with a grin and hard eyes. Nagari shifted his feet and planted himself over his downed team mate. He would protect her, he would kill this ninja.

Muta saw it too late. His sleepy puppy fell almost in slow motion. His heart thudded and his kikkai buzzed in anger. He ignored everything else around him, all of his focus on his hopefully unconscious teammate. He moved through the remaining bandits, ignoring the screaming terror as his kikkai formed a cloud of death to clear a path to his downed teammate. He acknowledge Nagari standing over Eri, his Kikkai skirting around the Hyuuga and the two of them stood side to side and faced the ninja.

"You will die, why? Because you have hurt our teammate." Muta said, his voice monotone and so very serious that Nagari suppressed a shiver of fear. In all of their training together the Aburame had never sounded as angry as he did now.

The ninja laughed and stood smiling brightly at the two gennin.

"Little babies, don't cry when you die." The female ninja said and then lunged towards them. They didn't even have to move. Nagari went low and Muta went high. Their attacks connecting at the same time and killing the enemy ninja so fast that the women didn't even have a chance to look surprised. Nagari pulled his hand away from the woman's stomach where his kunai was lodged, he had struck sideways and gutted the ninja. Muta had stabbed with a kikkai blade to the throat. The rest of Muta's kikkai pushed the enemy ninjas body away and the Aburame crouched down to check over their teammate. Nagari stood standing, eyes watching for anyone stupid enough to attack the three of them. The bandits who were still alive wouldn't be for long, Muta's Kikkai were having the meal of their lifetime.

Muta found he didn't know what to do, his hands were moving from her pulse to her wounds to her face, unsure if moving her would hurt her more. His kikkai not killing the remaining bandits were crawling all over his hands and clothes and over Eri as well in agitation. They needed to get her to a healer and soon.

"The girl on Hatake's team is a healer. We need to move as soon as possible."

"Where is Sensei?"

"He has just finished with his opponent." Nagari said.

"Collect the civilians."

Nagari left Muta to do as he said. He was worried, and he wasn't sure if he liked the feeling. His team were weird and they fought terribly, but the Inuzuka had saved him and he knew that he would need to work better as a team if she survived this. He wasn't sure if the Aburame would be able to forgive him if the Inuzuka died….and he wasn't sure if he could forgive himself for it either.

When Nagari arrived back with the civilian children Muta had Eri in his arms, kikkai swarming around him and buzzing angrily and Chouza stood impatiently. When he arrived with the children Chouza grabbed them up in his arms and took off, Muta right behind him. Nagari sighed and followed his team.

 **Day 38: Don't push the maybe….**

Eri work up slowly, she was aware of the scent of home and she sighed happily. The warmth of Muta next to her was comforting. She was surprised to smell Milk next to her as well and wondered if something was wrong. She felt something tickling the skin at her neck and went to scratch it, her hand coming away with a kikkai bug attached. Eri smiled sleepily, and then frowned at the heavily bandaged hand. She shifted and held back a growl of pain when she tried to move her left shoulder. It came back to her, the fight and being hit.

"You awake?"

Eri turned her head to Milk and blinked at him.

"Thanks for saving me."

Eri yawned and sighed, moving closer to Muta's warmth and scent.

"You are my teammate, my pack. I will watch you back." She said slowly, she had known once they were named gennin teammates that she would protect them with her life. It had been unfortunate that it was the Hyuuga but they were Konnoha ninja and she would work well with him.

"Huh, I…right."

"Are we on our way home?" she asked tiredly, unsure of where they were and what was happening.

"Yeah, you've been out for four days. The girl Nohara healed you as much as she could, but she said it would be better for you to sleep and heal."

"And Bug?"

"He used a lot of chakra in the fight, he's been asleep off and on the entire time."

"Hmm."

"…Inuzuka?"

"Yes?" Eri blinked her eyes opened, surprised she had almost fallen back asleep.

"I have a blind spot."

"Mm, I know. It's ok, we won't tell anyone." She said and then sighed and fell back asleep.

Nagari watched her snuggle into the Aburame and sat back with a sigh.

"We are a team." Muta said and Nagari started, he'd been sure the other boy had been asleep and he turned towards him.

"I know." Hyuuga said with a frown.

"Just so you know." Muta shifted and wrapped an arm around Eri and settled back to sleep.

 **Conclusion: Making a team takes a near death situation before they will work together.**

"I think you lost your girlfriend to the bug boy." Obito ducked Kakashi's swing and laughed while he ran away.

TBC


End file.
